[From Sabrina Buckwalter <[email protected]> to SAI list.] Navayana-Avarna fellowship for National Book Trust Publishing Course, July 2010
In 2009, Navayana sponsored five Dalit/Adivasi candidates for the Edit-Pub diploma course at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, as Avarna fellows. This year, Navayana shall sponsor the enrollment of five Dalit/Adivasi candidates at the National Book Trust’s four-week Training Course in Book Publishing (in English) in New Delhi. The details of the comprehensive course, where the best professionals from the publishing industry teach, are available at the link below. Also please find the course details and the application there as well, under the heading, Delhi. http://www.nbtindia.org.in/innerPage.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/training_course_in_bookpublishing.aspx Last date for application submission: 10 June 2010. Course dates: 5 July to 31 July 2010. Course time: 9:30a.m to 5:00p.m, Monday to Saturday. Venue: Conference Room, National Book Trust 5, Institutional Area, Vasant Kunj, Phase II New Delhi – 110070 http://www.nbtindia.org.in Candidates must apply directly to NBT as instructed on the NBT website. There is no entrance test; any graduate may apply. There is no age limit. Navayana shall play no role in the selection of the candidates. Candidates who happen to be Dalit/Adivasi and are selected by NBT may then apply to Navayana for financial support ([email protected] and [email protected]). Navayana shall pay the course fee (Rs 5,000) for up to five Dalit/Adivasi candidates. NBT this year is also arranging accommodation for outstation candidates at Rs 3,000 for four weeks. Navayana shall also subsidize this amount. In all, the net value of the Avarna Fellowship shall be Rs 8,000. NBT also has an internship program for promising students from which the selected Avarna fellows could benefit. Publishing as a Career Publishing in India is rarely seen as a career option by young people. The publishing industry in India, with an annual output of 85,000 titles in more than 30 languages, has an estimated value of USD 1.2 billion. After the UK and the US, India is the publisher of the largest number of titles in English language. There’s an array of multinationals and independent, niche publishers who offer exciting and intellectually stimulating careers in the world of books. Unfortunately in India there are few professional publishing courses that offer an insight into the world of publishing. The NBT short-term course is one of the few professionally conducted courses being offered in the country. Alumni from the NBT course have achieved great success in the publishing industry. For instance, the current editorial head of HarperCollins India is a product of this course. Like other private sectors in India, publishing too has been the preserve of the social elite. Dalits and Adivasis hence go almost unrepresented in this field. For many Dalits/Adivasis, publishing does not even seem to be a career option. Navayana, with the Avarna fellowship, seeks to address this anomaly. Navayana therefore encourages Dalits and Adivasis graduates to proactively apply for he NBT course, and on selection, subsequently for the Navayana-Avarna fellowship. For any further queries, write to [email protected]. Here are a few articles and useful links available on the internet with respect to the publishing scene in India: http://www.thehindu.com/lr/2009/01/04/stories/2009010450040100.htm http://www.frankfurt-book-fair.com/en/company/press_pr/newsletter/2009/01141/index.html http://aptstudio.com/timesemit/2009/03/18/overview-of-the-indian-publishing-industry/ http://www.publishers.org.uk/download.cfm?docid=DDBA0A81-8996-41E2-870AF146B713C373 (a 134-page PDF booklet by Rob Francis for UK's Publishers Association that offers a comprehensive "Publishing Market Profile for India, 2008")
